Fig. 1
From: Targeting NMDA receptors in stroke: new hope in neuroprotection
Dual roles of NMDARs in cell survival and death. Activation of NMDARs can trigger pro-survival or pro-death signaling depending on the subcellular locations or subtypes of NMDARs. In mature neurons, GluN2A-containing NMDARs are abundant in the synapses, and GluN2B-containing NMDARs are enriched in the extrasynaptic sites. In general, synaptic/GluN2A-containing NMDARs are associated with pro-survival effects, whereas extrasynaptic/GluN2B-containing NMDARs are linked to pro-death signaling complexes